


Push and Pull

by KiaCoral



Series: Divine Pulse (An AU Collection) [5]
Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: ATLA/Korra AU, Action/Adventure, Alternate Universe, Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Twin Byleths, no beta we die like Glenn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-30
Updated: 2020-08-30
Packaged: 2021-03-07 01:20:07
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,335
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26188612
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KiaCoral/pseuds/KiaCoral
Summary: Earth.Fire.Air.Water.Long ago, the four nations and the spirits lived together in harmony, but everything changed when the spirits attacked. Only the Avatar, master of all four elements, could stop them. But when the world needed them most, they vanished. Now, half a millennia later, humans and spirits are still at war with each other, and the physical world is on the brink of destruction.An ATLA/Korra AU + Twins AU **Would recommend having knowledge of ATLA - Korra S2 at least
Relationships: Dimitri Alexandre Blaiddyd/Claude von Riegan
Series: Divine Pulse (An AU Collection) [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1680505
Comments: 2
Kudos: 15





	Push and Pull

**Author's Note:**

> I have a sickness and I'm calling it the WIP disease, AKA being physically incapable of NOT making NEW stories while STILL WORKING ON SEVERAL OTHERS (if there's an actual name out there for this, I'll gladly accept it cause I KNOW I'm not the only one suffering, I mean, c'mon, there's HUNDREDS of memes on this problem).
> 
> Anyway, I AM still working on all of my other stories at the moment, it's just, my mind loves working against me, which I'm sure many if not all artists/writers/etc can relate to, so. *SHRUGS*
> 
> Regardless, I ABSOLUTELY LOVE the world of ATLA/Korra (though I haven't ACTUALLY finished watching all of Korra) and I seem to find myself making an AU for whatever fandom I'm in at the time, so this isn't surprising to me in the slightest. Hopefully this one will actually survive longer than a few chaps unlike all the previous ones. *sweats* Anyway, due to certain things, I'm taking a LOT of creative liberties with this one. Mixing elements from both 3H and the ATLA/Korra universes is SUCH FUN, and I hope you guys enjoy it as well (if any of you have read my other ATLA AUs, well, I'm sure you'll probably see some similar elements, HA). You PROBABLY don't need any background knowledge, but I'd RECOMMEND having watched through the second season of Korra. It'll probably make more sense in the long run.
> 
> ALSO, if you read the tags, YES, Twin Byleth is a thing in here, and for my own sanity's sake, I'll be using "Sophos" (which, if you've read my OTHER story, 'Twisted Heroes', you should recognize the name, and understand my reasoning) for Byleth's 'twin'. 
> 
> Anyway, many many thanks to all of you who take the time to read this story, I SINCERELY APPREICATE IT!!
> 
> Stay safe y'all.
> 
> Cheers.

* * *

_Northern Holy Kingdom of Faerghus_

_Fhirdiad, near the Royal Palace_

_Year 1174_

“I really don’t think this is a good idea, El…”

Edelgard rolled her eyes, her white hair floating about her flushed cheeks as she once more patted the seat behind her, “And people call _me_ uptight. Come _on_ Dimitri, we’ll be back before anyone knows we’re gone.”

“But it’s the _solstice_ ,” Dimitri hissed, shifting back and forth on his feet, bright blue eye flicking back towards the warm glow of the palace, “We’ll be _lucky_ if we only have to worry about being _grounded_ for _life_.”

His step-sister sighed, rubbing a hand over Loog’s neck appreciatively. Dimitri scowled at his polar-bear dog’s apparent betrayal as Loog’s tail swished back and forth happily, “This is a _horrible_ idea El!”

“Dimitri,” Edelgard sighed once more, the bright red of her Adrestian styled robes making her stick out ominously in the backdrop of snow and ice, “We’ll be _fine_ ! I just want to _see_ the Spirit Wilds, we’re not actually _going inside_!”

“So _why_ can’t we do that _tomorrow_? When it’s _not_ the _solstice_?” Dimitri growled, feeling the ice crack beneath his feet, “When it’s _not at night_?”

“Because, _dummy_ , I’m _leaving_ tomorrow!”

“You don’t _know_ that!”

“I heard my Uncle talking with your father yesterday...” Edelgard replied quietly, “Since I’m no longer sick, my Uncle says we need to return to Adrestia. I-I…” She swallowed thickly, “I need to begin my training as heir to the throne.”

Dimitri’s eye widened, “Wait, you mean - ”

“They’re _gone_ , Dimitri.” Edelgard squeezed her violet eyes closed, tears spilling and freezing in the winter air, “ _All_ of my brothers and sisters, _gone_ \- the _spirits_ took them.”

He felt his heart stop when his step-sister opened her eyes, irises practically _alight_ with _hate_ , frozen tears melting and _evaporating_ from her skin, “And I’m going to make them _pay_ for what they did.”

Dimitri felt dawning horror flood his veins as he finally understood what his step-sister wished to accomplish, “El, I _understand_ -”

“ _Do you_?” She hissed, flames sprouting from her gloved hands and causing Loog to shift nervously beneath her.

“- but going to the Spirit Wilds on a _solstice_ ,” Dimitri shook his head, “It’s _madness_! Going there _won’t_ bring them back!”

“And how would _you_ know?” Edelgard snarled, “How would you _know_ if you’ve never-”

“ _Cause I’ve tried it!_ ” Dimitri yelled, ice cracking ominously and snow flying in all directions, “ _O_ _k_ ?! I’ve _tried_ , El, _and it didn’t work!_ When my mother was taken by the spirits, _I almost died_ trying to bring her back _, and Glenn got killed for it!_ ”

Loog whined quietly in the following silence, the two siblings’ heavy breathing filling the air as they stared each other down. Edelgard was the first to look away.

“...Is that how you…?”

Dimitri sighed, shoulders slumping as he touched the edges of his eyepatch, the royal purple material covering his scarred eye, “Yes.”

“...You told me that your mother died from the plague several years ago.”

“It was a _spirit invasion_ ,” Dimitri answered quietly, head bowed, “The _plague_ was an immediate side effect of the attack. I was too young to remember everything. My father told me she died protecting me.”

He didn’t realize his step-sister had moved until two tiny arms wrapped around his neck, Edelgard’s natural body heat making the hug even warmer.

“I’m so sorry,” she whispered into his neck.

Dimitri wrapped his arms around her, squeezing back just as tightly, “I’m sorry too.”

The two stood there for a long moment, before Loog butted his head against them and sent them tumbling. Dimitri instinctively drew a drift of snow beneath them as they fell, making their descent short and soft, “Loog!”

Edelgard giggled as Loog proceeded to flop on top of them - without actually crushing them - swiping his tongue over their teary faces and setting the pair into giggles, “Loog, _stop!_ ”

It took a good several minutes before Dimitri could convince Loog to release them, the tense and grief filled air having receded in the wake of slobbery kisses.

“...Shall we go back?” Dimitri asked tentatively, massaging Loog’s ears between his hands as the polar-bear dog _whoofed_ from atop them.

Edelgard sighed, “...Yes, let’s go back.”

They didn’t end up going to the Spirit Wilds, but the two still ended up being grounded for several weeks after they snuck Loog inside the palace. Dimitri spent it wondering how his step-sister fared, waiting for the day they could see each other in person. It would be many years later when the two siblings would see each other again, the war growing ever worse.

* * *

_The Leicester Alliance_

_Derdriu, The House of von Riegan_

_Year 1178_

“You may have Tiana’s eyes, and even her _wit_ , but it’ll take more than _that_ to convince me that you’re of my blood, let alone my grandchild.”

Khalid frowned, not daring to glance at what remained of his mother’s letter - _unread_ and _unopened_ \- that lay shredded at the old man’s feet. His mother had _warned_ him that his grandfather was a _stubborn_ man, set in his ways like the mountains and walls that surrounded his home. It’d been one of the main reasons she’d _left_ in the first place.

Now, Khalid had to think of a way to _move_ a mountain.

Or _wear it down_ at any rate.

Khalid’s eyes shifted to the side, landing on a very familiar board and tiles placed near the room’s lit fireplace. He returned his gaze to his grandfather, catching how the old man’s sharp hazel eyes traced his attention’s path.

Khalid smiled, “Care for a wager then?”

All told, it took no more than a few hours - for a grand total of five games - for Khalid to enter the House of von Riegan, and exit his grandfather’s study as Claude.

Claude von Riegan grinned, rolling a white lotus tile across his knuckles, “Look out world, here I come.”

All told, it took no more than a year - the number of games he played with his grandfather were too many to count - for Claude von Riegan to be announced as the legitimate heir to the Leicester Alliance.

* * *

_Garreg Mach_

_Polar Flats, residential district_

_Year 1179_

There was a lot to be said of someone who was willing to walk through the Polar Flats in the dead of night. Someone who was obviously well off, even more so. Yuri watched the man with calculating eyes from his position on the roof, silenting tailing him as the man looked both ways down the empty street before entering a dilapidated building. Yuri shook his head with an incredulous smirk.

_Amateur. Must be new blood._

Anyone worth their salt _knew_ to check the skies. In a city like Garreg Mach, where metal benders were just as comfortable on the ground as in the air, it was a _necessity_. Garreg Mach was an unforgiving city to those who sought to fulfill their own interests through criminal actions. With a quiet snort of disgust, Yuri raised a fist, flicking his fingers in coordinated signs. He took his leave as his Wolves descended upon the would-be mobsters’ headquarters, smiling as the shouts of battle rang throughout the night sky.

Garreg Mach had no need for the criminal element, let alone the _incompentent_ . There was only room for _one_ group in Garreg Mach’s underbelly, and that was Yuri and his Ashen Wolves.

* * *

_Half a millennia has passed since the Avatar’s disappearance. Mankind has learned how to survive on their own without the Master of Elements, progressing and advancing slowly but surely in the face of a common enemy. Garreg Mach is a symbol of mankind’s constant struggle towards peace and prosperity, a city made up of the three remaining nations._

_Fire benders of the Adrestian Empire._

_Water benders of the Northern Holy Kingdom of Faerghus._

_Earth benders of the Leicester Alliance._

_The Air Nomads - one people of many nations - were the first to be wiped out at the beginning of the War, the spirits ravaging the isolated, vulnerable temples across the world._

_Not long after, The Holy Kingdoms of Faerghus were assaulted. The North, with it’s well-established cities and walls made of ice were able to hold off the spirits. The South was not so fortunate. Reinforcements from Adrestia and the Northern Kingdom were far too late to save any of the Southern inhabitants, leaving a wake of empty, bloodless villages across the entire kingdom._

_It’s believed that the future Avatar was amongst the casualties._

_It is following the Raid of the Southern Kingdom, that the remaining nations - Adrestia, the Leicester Alliance and the Northern Kingdom - banned together to face the spirits in a united front._

_Garreg Mach was built in honor of the union._

_It has prospered in memory of the fallen._

_Now, on the eve of half a millennia passing since the start of The Great Spirit War, a new dawn approaches._

* * *

_Garreg Mach_

_Cethlean Harbor_

_Year 1180_

Garreg Mach was a city that never, _truly_ slept. Most of its inhabitants were used to it, all of them born in the midst of a war with supernatural beings of unimaginable power. Still, to them, it was home.

To the twins, Byleth and Sophos, it was an impossible marvel.

Sophos openly gaped, hands clasped tightly around the metal - _metal, they had ships made of metal -_ railing as their vessel slowly pulled into Cethlean Harbor. Her brother _stared_. To anyone else, he probably looked _bored_ , but _Sophos_ knew he was just as shocked and uneasy by the changes around them.

She reached down for his hand, twining their fingers together tightly. He gripped back just as hard.

As long as they were together, they’d get through this.

 _Five hundred_ years was a _lot_ to swallow, but they’d _survived_ and they had each other. 

They’d make it work. 

Somehow.

“Hey kids.”

Sophos and Byleth both turned, matching dark blue eyes watching as General Jeralt of the United Forces approached.

He glanced at them, before his eyes swept across the lit harbor, “We’ll be landing soon.”

Sophos traded a look with Byleth before they both nodded in understanding. The General had been the one to find them, frozen beneath the waters surrounding what was once their home. The Southern Holy Kingdom of Faerghus was history - _literally_ \- declared off-limits as _enemy territory_ and _overrun_ with spirits. The United Forces actively patrolled the area in case of attack, but it’d been several years since the last major spirit invasion in human territory. Nowadays, it was mostly minor skirmishes, hit-and-run tactics. Still, the United Forces were vigilant in their duties and remained ever on guard.

It’d been pure luck - whether good or bad was still up to debate - according to the old General that their ship had struck their iceberg beneath the surface, ending with the ship nearly _sinking_ but also freeing the twins from their frozen slumber.

General Jeralt sighed, a hand scrubbing across his rugged and scarred face, “Look, I know it’s a _lot_ to take in - _I’m_ still trying to wrap my head around the idea that y’all _survived_ for that long down there - but once we land, The Church of Seiros will take care of _everything_.”

Sophos pursed her lips, “You’ve never really gone into great detail on just _who_ these Church of Seiros people are…”

“Never heard of them,” Byleth added in.

“How have you not -? You know what, never mind,” The General grimaced, “You’re about to _meet_ them, so a bit late to be asking questions _now_.”

Sophos scowled, “We’ve still got time, so tell us _now_.”

General Jeralt sighed, propping his hands on his hips, “ _Where_ to even _start_?”

“The beginning’s always good,” Byleth offered blandly.

Sophos smiled behind a hand as the General rolled his eyes with a snort, lips quirked in good humor, “ _No kidding_ , kid. But alright, _fine_. The Church of Seiros. No one’s _quite_ sure how long they’ve been around, but it’s been for _millennia_ as far as anyone’s cared to look. Up until around the start of the War, they were a secret organization of _scholars_ and _intellectuals_ that enjoyed games of strategy, philosophy and other things. Eventually, over time, the Church grew larger. They gained more members with various and vast skills and knowledge. At some point, they began becoming advisors, teachers and mentors to those in high positions of state; leading and guiding Kings, Queens, Chiefs and Emperors of all nations for the better of mankind. Many became masters of their craft or took positions of high authority in society. Eventually, several of their members became connected with Avatars, and over the years, they’ve dedicated their lives to helping humanity, Avatar included.”

Sophos glanced at Byleth, who looked aloof as ever if not for the tight grip he had on her hand. 

The General shrugged, “Judging by how old you two are, your lack of proper mentorship and knowledge of the Church is rather...worrisome. I don’t know how y’all did it in the South, but up North, _all_ children are tested at a young age to see if they’re benders.”

“We’re not benders,” Sophos stated immediately.

“ _Really_?” General Jeralt deadpanned, “And I suppose I and _all fifty of my men_ , just, _imagined_ the way your brother _whisked_ the two of you out of harm’s way on a _water spout_ and _froze_ the hole in my ship. _Glowing eyeballs included_.”

Sophos glared back, placing her brother behind her, “I _said_ , we’re _not_ benders.”

“Hate to break it to you kid, but your _brother_ is most _certainly_ a bender,” The General replied firmly, albeit kindly, “The _Avatar_ , in fact. And the sooner you accept that, the easier it’ll be on you both.”

Sophos would have retorted sharply if not for Byleth squeezing her fingers.

“What’s _that_?” he asked quietly.

Sophos turned to the side, eyes widening in awe at the glowing gold building out near the water. 

General Jeralt snorted, “ _T_ _hat_ would be the Pro-bending stadium kids.”

Sophos and Byleth both blinked, “What’s _pro-bending_?”

“Oh boy…”

* * *

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, hopefully everything made SENSE, but if not, I have a very SIMPLE 'chart' of what's going on and who is what.
> 
> **WORLD NOTES:**
> 
> The 100 Year War = The Great Spirit War (has lasted for 500 years)  
>    
> Starts when the Fire Nation attacks to bring peace to the world = Starts when the spirits attack the physical world for...reasons
> 
> Fire Nation = Adrestian Empire
> 
> Water Tribes = Holy Kingdom of Faerghus (made up of North and South Kingdoms)
> 
> Earth Kingdom = Leicester Alliance
> 
> Air Nomads = Unnamed miscellaneous, the rest of the FE ‘world’ I guess, not really important since they’re dead at this point
> 
> Republic City = Garreg Mach
> 
> Order of the White Lotus = The Church of Seiros
> 
> United Forces = Knights of Seiros/Church Staff/Students
> 
> Republic City Police = The Ashen Wolves
> 
> Now, THANK YOU ALL FOR TAKING THE TIME TO READ!!! I SINCERELY I APPRECIATE IT!! *BOWS*


End file.
